The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Central government in the special leave petition filed by Malayalam news channel MediaOne against the single bench order which upheld the Information & Broadcasting Ministry’s decision not to renew the channel’s broadcast license.
The bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and Vikram Nath asked the Centre to produce the relevant files of the Home Ministry which raised concerns on national security.
The Supreme Court listed the case for hearing on March 15. The news channel approached the Supreme Court on March 2 after a division bench dismissed the plea which upheld the I&B Ministry’s decision of banning the channels citing security reasons. The Kerala HC division bench while dismissing the plea has also stated that national security is of extreme importance for the smooth functioning of the country.
